FMA: A Brother's Love
by Ferran of Shadows
Summary: There was as much pain as there was joy.We lived ourlives equivalent to a soldier.We shared each other's burdens and sorrow.But now we were to be parted...forever. Takes place two years after Pain and Torture. There will be ElricestEdxAl in l8er chapters
1. Memorial

Chapter 1: Memorial

As Edward Elric walked to his brother's grave, he felt something he had never felt before. He realized how much he loved his brother, and how he had loved him back. He took advantage of him, and now that he was gone, he felt dead and incomplete.  
"Alphonse," Ed whispered."Why did you have to leave me? What am I supposed to do? How are we supposed to get Mom back to her original state? Why do these things keep happening to me"  
"Ed," Winry said as she walked up to him." Hey! How are you? I haven't seen you since..you know..." Ed could tell she was trying to avoid mentioning Al's death.  
"I'm fine...I haven't really felt myself lately, but I'll be fine," Ed responded.  
"Where are you staying nowadays?" Winry asked him, changing the subject.  
"I've been staying with Riza Hawkeye," Ed told her."And sometimes with Roy. I don't want to go back to Risembool. Too many memories"  
It's been two years since Al had died. Everyone was sad, but in a few month's time, they got over it. But not Ed. He couldn't get over his only brother's death, the brother who had stayed with him through the good and the bad. He thought he was sad when Winry died, but this was too much. He could remember the moment his life was taken away...

"You can't do this! He's my little brother! Don't take him away from me..." Ed sobbed as the homunculous Torture stood before him with Al in his hands.  
"We had a deal, Elric," Torture said."A life for a life. I got to choose. You want the girl back, right"  
"I don't want you to take Alphonse! I just returned him to his normal state!" Ed said through tears.  
"ED! BROTHER...!" Al screamed as Pain clapped her hands and started the human transmutation. In an instant, all life was drained out of Alphonse and thrown into Winry.  
"ALPHONSE! No..This can't be happening...not again..."

"I'm sorry, Ed," Winry said as she saw Ed tilt his head down and start crying."I'll go"  
"No, it's not you, Winry," Ed said through tears."I was just remebering how he died"  
"Oh...thank you, Ed," Winry said.  
"Huh? For what"  
"You were willing to give up a life for me. Because of you, I'm standing here today. Though I wouldn't like to be"  
"What do you mean by 'wouldn't like to be'?" Ed asked.  
"It's just that you lost your brother because of me. It's no that I'm not grateful, because I truly am, but Al's your only brother. I'm just an old friend"  
"Winry, don't talk like that! Don't go off and commit suicide because I'm sad my brother died! You should be happy you're standing here"  
"You're right. I'll be more cheerful, I promise," Winry said."...so, why do you stay with Roy and Riza"  
"Well, they don't live together yet, even though they're engaged. But Riza sometimes stays the night at Roy's house, and I live with her, so I go where she goes. I should be finding a place of my own, though, because I'm twenty," Ed said."I guess I like the security"  
"I thought you hated Roy!" Winry said.  
"I wouldn't say 'hate' anymore. We worked things out, and it helps that I'm at least a foot taller than two years ago," Ed said."That was the main reason we didn't like each other; he made fun of my height"  
"Well, I'd better go...Oh! Did I tell you that I opened my own automail shop? Come by sometime!" Winry said as she ran to her car.  
"Al...I'll get you back...no matter what it takes"  
He walked away to his own car and headed for Riza's house.

Ed got out of his car and walked up to Riza's house and entered. He saw Riza sitting at her kitchen table sipping coffee.  
"Ed you're home," Riza said."Where did you go"  
"I went to see Al," Ed replied.  
"You know, Ed, the wedding's next week and you haven't picked out your tux yet," Riza said, trying to change the subject.  
"I'll just transmute one later," Ed said as he walked up to his room.  
"Maybe I could...no, I'm not doing human transmutation again...not after what happened last time...but how did Pain do it correctly? It's against the laws of alchemy!" Ed said to himself."...I'll try one more time...for Al"  
Ed walked over to his personal library of alchemy and searched for the old books Ed and Al read and studied before they began human transmutation on their mother. He found them and set them down on his desk and leafed through them. He went back and read them carefully, and again, and again. He intended to succeed this time. As he went over the formula one last time, he fell asleep on top of his pile of books.

When Ed finally awoke, it was about eight'o'clock AM and Riza was sitting on his bed staring at him.  
"Huh? Wh-What are you doing?" Ed asked groggily.  
"Oh, nothing," Riza said."I was just waiting for you to wake up. What are you studying?" She picked up one of his books and leafed through it.  
"It's amazing haw you undersand all of this. I can't make sense of any of it!" Riza said. She then picked up a sheet of paper that Ed was writing on the night before.  
"'Improved Theory of Human Transmu-'" She read aloud and then stopped."You're not planning to bring Alphonse back, are you"  
"It doesn't concern you, Riza," Ed said as he took his paper back and set it down on his desk."Don't get involved. It's something I have to do"  
"Ed, I won't allow you to do this! I may not know much about alchemy or understand it, but I know what a human transmutation is and I'm not letting you do it!" Riza yelled.  
"Whats all the yelling about?" Roy said as he entered the room. Riza ran up to him and gave him a hug and a kiss. She whispered something in his ear, and Roy looked shocked.  
"Ed, you're not performing a human transmutation! How do you propose to do it? You have nothing to sacrifice!" Roy said.  
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I want to do it without sacrificing a lot," Ed said.  
"It's impossible! Why try to do this again? You know perfectly well what happened last time!" Roy said.  
"Yes, I know," Ed said."I'm a more expierienced alchemist and person. I've gotten more mature since we tried to bring Mom back. I'm not afraid of death, since I've come so close to it many times before"  
"Are you planning to sacrifice yourself?" Roy asked.  
"Of course not, that's stupid," Ed said.  
"Then wha"  
"I don't know. Just leave me alone, alright? I'll do what I have to do."

As Ed stood at the top of the stairs an hour later, he overheard Riza and a neighbor talking about the neighbors' daughter's fatal illness.  
"That's perfect!" Ed said to himself."She's just going to die anyway...but that's a crime and it would be wrong...and it's not like she would just hand her daughter over to me for what I'm going to use her for"  
"Excuse me, lady, but do you think I could take a look at your daughter? I'm an alchemist; I might be able to help," Ed said as he came down the stairs.  
"Of course! Do what you want with her; she'll just die anyway.." the woman said.  
Ed walked next door and went into the girls' room. She looked very sickly and weak on her bed. Ed walked up to her.  
"Wh-Who are you?" the girl asked.  
"I'm Edward Elric, an alchemist, if you know hat that is," he said.  
"I'm going to die, aren't I?" she asked.  
"Yes, I'm sorry to say. Do you want to be put to good use before dying?" he asked her.  
"Yes. I don't want to die knowing that I never helped anybody or accomplished anything in my life. What do I do"  
"First, can you walk? If you can't, I'll carry you"  
"I can't. I haven't been able to for a year"  
"I'm going to draw a circle and I want you to lie in the middle of it." He carried her into a forest where they were away from buildings and society. He set her down and drew the transmutation circle around her. "Now don't move. I'll be right back," Ed said as he ran to the graveyard. 


	2. Failed Transmutaion

Chapter 2: Failed Transmutation

Edward Elric ran to the graveyard where his brother Alphonse was buried. He went to his gravestone, clapped his hands, and layed them on his brother's grave. There was a blue glow, and all the grass, dirt, and insects that were underground were pushed aside. He picked up the coffin and carried it back to the forest where the girl was.

"I'm back," Ed said to her when he got back.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to the coffin.

"Nothing...I mean, something, but nothing at the same time," Ed replied.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"You'll understand in a little while," he said.

He layed the coffin down next to the girl. He added a little more detail to the circle, then took something out of his pocket. It was a glowing blue stone. The Scholar's Stone.

"That's a pretty rock," the girl said."Where did you get it?"

"I got it in a forest," Ed said."About two years ago."

He traced the circle with the stone, which caused it to glow blue.

"Wow," the girl said."How'd you do that?"

"Uh...the stone is...um...magical. Yeah...magical," Ed replied."Um...by the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Ocada (pronounced OH-cuh-duh w00t!)," the girl replied.

"Well," Ed said,"I'd better get started. Ocada, you're going 'revive' my brother."

"Really?" Ocada asked."How're you going do that?"

"By performing a human transmutation," Ed said.

"What's that?"

"It's when you sacrifice something to try to revive a person, or give them a human body, or turn them back to a human," Ed replied.

"That's a lot," Ocada pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Ed said."But I love my brother a lot, and it's my fault he's gone."(A/N:o m f g...twitch)

"How is it your fault?" Ocada asked.

"An evil man (A/N: Ganondorf! lol) told me he could bring back a girl-"

"OOOOHHH! Ed's got a girlfriend!" Ocada teased.

"Heh. She's not my girlfriend. Anyway, he said that I had to sacrifice one of my friends. I agreed. Instead of taking one of my friends, he took my brother, who's in here," he said as he pointed to the coffin.

"That's so sad..." Ocada said.

"Yeah...and I miss him so much..." Ed said.

"Could you do a favor for me? Since I'm going to die soon..." Ocada said.

"Yeah," Ed said,"of course. What's the favor?"

"Could you tell my sisters, Odelle and Licayda, that I said goodbye?"

"Yeah, of course. Let's get on with the transmutation."

Ed clapped his hands and layed them on the circle. It started to glow blue and then a bright white. He could hear the screams of Ocada and he started crying slightly. He hadn't killed many things before on purpose. Her screams faded, and he knew she was dead. When the light faded away, Ed walked towards the center of the circle; Ocada's body was gone. He glanced over to where the coffin was, and walked over to it. He opened it.

"No..." Ed said shakily. The thing he saw in there wasn't human.; it reminded of what his mother looked like after her transmutation."No...that's not my brother..." he said as he backed away from the coffin."Why didn't it work this time?" He slowly turned his shoulder, picked up the Scholar's Stone, and ran back to Riza's as fast as he could.

"What's wrong?" Riza asked curiously as Ed burst through her front door.

"Um...nothing..." he panted as he ran to his room. He sat down on his bed and cried himself to sleep. (A/N: I make Ed cry tooooo much...o.w...)

Ed woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his bedroom door.

"Ed?" he heard Riza's muffled voice come from the other side of the door( tobira no mukou e lol)."Can I come in?"

"Yeah..." Ed replied sleepily. He looked out his window; it was pitch-black outside. He glanced at his clock; it was 2 o'clock in the morning.

"What happened?" Riza asked as she opened the door, walked in, and sat down next to Ed.

"I-..." Ed started, then stopped. _It would break her heart if I told her what I did..._ Ed thought.

"Something must be wrong; I heard you crying."

"The thing I brought back...it was...it wasn't human...just like Mom..." Ed said quietly.

"What?" Riza asked."What are you talking about?"

"I...did the human transmutation..." Ed said a little louder.

"Ed!" Riza gasped."No..."

"Yes...I did..."

"...What did you sacrifice?" she asked.

"That sick neighbor girl Ocada," Ed replied.

"...Ed, I'll be right back," Riza said after a long pause; she got up."Don't move."

As soon as she left, Ed sat up, ran to the window, and climbed out of the house. He felt around for something he could transmute into a lantern, and found a wheelbarrow and did so. He took some matches out of his pocket and lit the lantern. He ran to the place in the forest where he performed the transmutation. The circle was barely visible, but the coffin he left there was open with nothing in it.

"That thing must be alive somewhere..." Ed whispered to himself." I wonder where Ocada's body went..." he added as he sat down in thought.

"It seems we have more additions to the family," Envy said."Eat these." He handed Shadow and Mischief a handful of incomplete Philosopher's Stones. Shadow slowly picked one up and put in in his mouth. He picked up some more and ate them as well.

"Your turn, missy," he said to Mischief as he moved his hand full of the Stones towards her.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"What's there to be sure about? Just eat them," Envy said impatently.

"O-okay..." she said as she picked one up and ate it. Her eyes got wide and she ate the remaining few.

"Um...by the way," Shadow said,"who are you?"

"I'm Envy, a homunculus," he replied."And so are you two." He pointed to Shadow and Mischief.

"Are we the only ones?" Mischief asked.

"Of course not," Envy said."There are plenty more of us."

Shadow looked around at the walls, which were stone. Suddenly he saw several bodies emerge from the walls. He gasped; the figures became clearer, and Mischief walked up to one of them.

"Hey..." she said to the figure.

"What?" it replied.

"You talk!" she said, surprised. The figure walked towards her.

"I'm the same height as you!" she said.

"Who are you?" Shadow asked the figures, which moved towards him, and they became clearer.

"They are the other homunculi I was telling you about," Envy answered."Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth, meet Shadow and Mischief."

"Good," Lust said."Who created them?"

"The Elric bastard," Envy said."...Hey, where's Pain and Torture?"

"We're here," Pain said as she and Torture emerged out of the wall, too.

"Sorry we're late," Torture said."...Who're these kids?" He pointed to Shadow and Mischief.

"Maybe if you got here earlier, you would know!" Envy said.

"They're new homunculi," Lust replied.

"You look familiar..." Torture said as he walked in front of Shadow and examined him closely."...Oh, yeah! I killled you two years ago, how could I forget?"

"Huh?" Shadow said, giving him a puzzled look.

"So, why are you guys late?" Envy asked Pain and Torture.

"We were making sure the Elric brat actually went through with his brother's transmutation," Pain explained."And by the looks of it, he did. He's in the forest where he did the transmutation now."

"Can I eat him?" Gluttony asked."I'm soooo hungry..."

"Hell no, you ain't eatin' him!" Greed said as he came in through an opening in the wall."And you're always hungry!"

"Greed...Shut up," Lust said.

"We really need to figure out what we're doing about the Scholar's Stone," Sloth said." We need to figure out how to get it from Ed...or make a new one. If we get the one from Ed, it's powere will have withered away."

"You're right," Lust said." How many times has he used it now...twice?"

"...So, Sloth, you actually made the Elric brothers believe you weren't evil?" Pain asked.

"Yes, just some motherly charm and I had them in my grasp," Sloth said."Ed still thinks I have his mother's soul."

"Did any of you hear singing earlier?" Torture asked after a long pause.

"No...why do you ask?" Pain replied.

"The Virtues..." Torture said quietly.

"The Virtues?" Envy said. "What are you talking about?"

"We're Sins, right?" Pain said."They're Virtues; they're opposed to us. They're all homunculi, but instead of eating incomplete Philosopher's Stones, they ate incomplete Scholar's Stones. Their oroborus' are blue instead of red."

"And you know all this how?" Greed asked.

"Well, unlike you, I pay attention to the things around me," Pain said.

"And what does that mean!" Greed yelled.

"Never mind," Pain laughed.

Ed got up and walked around in the forest for a while before stopping again at a creek.

"Al can't be a homunculus..." Ed said to himself."He just can't be..."

"And why not?" a voice said to him.

"Who are you?" Ed asked.

"You don't need to know that," the voice said."At least, not now."

"Well, what do you want?"

"I'm here to help you."

"And how do you propose to do that when I don't even know who -or what- you are!"

"I'm a homunculus," the voice said as a body emerged from the thickness of the trees.

"Well, I don't want your help," Ed told him."The last time I trusted a homunculus I lost my brother's life."

"Ed, wait," the homunculus said.

"I really don't want to talk," Ed said as he began to walk away.

"Suit yourself," the homunculus said as he turned his shoulder."Kindness, Chastity, let's go."

"But, Humility-" two voices said; their bodies, if they had any, were out of sight.

"No, the boy doesn't want to be disturbed. We must leave." And in an instant, they disappeared.

"Wait a minute...Humility...that's the oppposite of Pride. Kindness and Chastity are the opposite of Envy and Lust...Virtue and sin..." Ed said as he continued to walk on."Dammit! Al always used to say I acted without thinking...I guess he's right. Virtue against sin...those homunculi probably could've helped me... I'm so stupid!" he banged his head on a nearby tree. He decided to go back to Riza's house.

On the walk back, he thought about the homunculi and what he was going to do about them. He figured they were still after the Scholar's Stone.

"What else would they be after?" Ed said to himself. It was a while before he reached Riza's house. He quietly opened the door and creeped in.

"Ed?" he heard Riza call from the other side of the house."Ed, is that you?"

"Uh...yeah," he called back.

"We have you been?" she asked as she walked into the room where Ed was."I came back into your room and you were gone!"

"I went to see if the body was there..."

"Where? What body?"

"Al's transmuted body in the forest," Ed explained."It wasn't there."

"What about the girl's body?" Riza asked.

"I take it the gate swallowed it up."

"Oh..."

There was a long pause.

"Well, after I left, I went to go get Roy to see if maybe he could comfort you," Riza told Ed."But when we got back to your room, you weren't there and I suggested we wait. We did, and Roy got tired so I told him to sleep in my room while I continued to wait for you. I think he's still in there, unless he hasn't already left."

"Sorry I took off like that, Riza," Ed apologized.

"It's all right. Just go get some sleep; it's at least 5 AM."

"All right..." he yawned as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.

When Ed woke up again, it was 11 o'clock AM.

"Aaaahhhh..." he yawned."I'm so hungry..."

He got dressed and then walked down to Riza's kitchen.

"Riza?" he called."Are you awake yet?" He walked over to her bedroom and opened the door. He saw Riza was still in bed, with Roy. Ed decided not to wake them up; he just smiled and closed the door.

He walked back to the klitchen to make himself some breakfast. He didn't know how to cook, so he just grabbed a doughnut and walked out the door; he was headed for the forest again to erase the transmutation circle. When he reached the area, he clapped his hands and sent the water froma a small puddle to wash away the circle.

"There!" Ed said.

"Shall we try this again, Edward?" Ed recognized the voice as Humility's. He emerged from the trees like before.

"Oh, God, not you again-" he started, but stopped. _Think before you act..._ "Sorry...my little brother always used to tell me to think things out before I actually did them..."

"'Used to'?" Humility said.

"He lost his life to two homunculi by the names of Pain and Torture," Ed explained.

"Aaaahhhh..." Humility said understandingly.

"So...what do you want?" Ed asked.

"Like I said before, I want to help you," Humility told him."But first I'd like to introduce you to the rest of my comrades. I take it you heard me speak to Kindness and Chastity. That's Abstinence, Patience, Liberality, and Diligence." He pointed to different as he spoke and the emerged from the trees as well."And I'm Humility, as you might already know."

"It's nice to meet you all, but how exactly are you supposed to help me?" Ed said.

"Um...I don't really know right now, but we'll figure something out," Humility replied.

All of the sudden, a shadowy figure emerged from the forest.

"What the hell!" Ed exclaimed. The figure became clearer and what Ed saw left him in shock. He fell backwards.

"Ed?" Humility yelled, trying to get a response out of him, but Ed still stared at the figure."Ed! Move!" The figure charged towards him. Humility hurriedly got in front of Ed and took the blow.

"Ed! What the hell is wrong with you!" Humility yelled as he continued to fight the -what they now realized it to be- homunculus. "Why aren't you moving?"

"I-it...it's my...it's my little brother," Ed said shakily."It's...It's Al."

A/N: omfg...im sorry this ch is so late! no its BEYOND late! i had to finish writing it during school...yeah, it sucked. AmbthonyBob, you can go die somewhere. nah, jk! yeah...u read some of this (the last part) during science, 4th. told you my chapters werent short!

you homophobe...Elricest! (yeah, your getting tired of hearing that now...arent you? o.O;;) neway, enjoy the chapter. ch 3's coming REEEEEL soon! i promise! Mrs. Katchmar sucks...she waddles...hehee...

btw, i switched type document things...not like you'd notice or anything...cough


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